I was gonna fire the 383 in my 38 g***er yesterday. But, after filling the radiator with water, here's what happened (see pic). Water's running out the header. Good thing there was no exhaust system, or I'd never known of the prob. Funny thing is I usually won't start a motor unless it does have exhaust so's I can hear any potential probs. This motor's not fresh (just a head change), so I wasn't worried. Anyway, I pull the plugs and NO WATER. ****, there must be a pinhole in an exhaust port, and that valve's shut. Pull the header.....and the "porter" got a bit carried away. Well, as luck would have it, Larry Ofria from Valley Head Service made his very rare, once in a blue moon appearances at our local cruise spot last night (Bobs), and gave me a hug and said "easy fix". I'll warm er up the oven and put a little br*** in there. Ceeya Monday-Tuesday Larry. *****en guy. He's got a very fast 57 Chevy he recently stopped racing, that if I remember right, he drove to High School yrs ago. I saw him run bottom 8's with an un-blown small block about 12-15 yrs ago. Kept up with some Pro-Mods til the 1/8. Back to my 38? It's a "rescued" project. So, to not ruin the rest of my day, I'll bleed the brakes I'd plumbed earlier this week. Fluid's coming out of the RR backing plate. Leaky wheel cyl? Jack the car, remove tire/wheel, and drum....... NO FRIGGIN BRAKES, and the 2 wheel cyl pistons laying on the ground. Amateurs!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay the F*CK away from the car and put the tools down!!!!!!!!!
EXACTLY. I'm headed up North with some friends for some organized, daytime street racing at some guy's Farm.
Groucho, you need to get a video camera for those street races you attend to share with us speed freaks
Doesn't it piss you off when "**** happens" cycles around to you? I've got to believe you've experienced worse and will work it out. Report back when the tide turns. Frank
Take a feep breath and go inside. Turn on the **** tube and **** up a few Buds and it will be just fine-Been there -Done than
Nothing new...same thing happened to me in 1963. Torqued the heads for the 3rd time and solved the problem.
Been there, done that. Walk away, pick up where I left off the next day and everythings smooth sailing.
It must be a '38 chevy thing.....Every time I want to rebuild or fix something I always seem to take a few steps backwards....My other cars are all COOPERATIVE!...John
Larry was at Bob's??!! Sheeit, I was thinking about going ,too. He built the Naihead in my A PU. (Don't tell him it's not done yet....he'll be mad). How the hell is he? I heard he was havin' a little bit of health problems for a while there, glad to hear he's back up and at'em. I'lll have to swing by Valley Head this week and say howdy. Good luck with the fix Groucho....You ought to see the killer work he did on my corodded out timing cover.
you gotta good friend in larry. he's got an awesome set of tools. he can fix it. BTW his ol '57 is still sbc, blown and in the 7's. ask him about the heads.
That happened to me about 2 weeks ago, except mine was an intake and further investigation revealed the heads were, well, ****ed. New set of alloys should be here in a week or two...
larry handing out hugs??? that doesn't sound like him! Larry is one of the best guys I know and he and the crew at valley head can fix anything. I've seen some crazy stuff fixed at his shop like a valve face smashed all the way through the seat and up in the intake port off a fuel motor and a cast iron cylinder off leno's steam engine that had a crack you could stick your finger in. I don't know how they do it. The 57 is still racing, in fact we where out at fontana this weekend for the super chevy show but he doesn't drive the car any longer. He had neck surgery almost 2 years ago now that limited his mobility so he stepped down after a long career of driving. His fans were pissed because when he drove the people in the stands where in store for some guard rail to guard rail action!! he also still owns the 57 he bought new in high school. If i remember right it is a special order 2x4/floor shift car and it has something like 35,000 original miles on it. The race car was cloned after that car but he saved the race car from a wrecking yard. when you take the head in tell Larry Andy said hello and I'll see him at the end off the month.
Is this the guy I met at larry's shop moonlighting as the floor sweep manager? did you ever find a trans for your PU? and can I get drum lessons? Andy
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